February is National Pet Dental Month, named to increase
everyone’s awareness of the importance of healthy teeth and gums.
Some veterinary hospitals are offering special incentives to
encourage pet owners to bring their furry friend in for an oral
exam.
February is National Pet Dental Month, named to increase everyone’s awareness of the importance of healthy teeth and gums. Some veterinary hospitals are offering special incentives to encourage pet owners to bring their furry friend in for an oral exam.
Some dogs and cats need a dental cleaning periodically. Others don’t. So how do you know if your pet has oral problems? If his breath makes you want to turn your head and walk away from him, he obviously needs an exam at the vet’s office. But sometimes the signs are more subtle. And our first letter this week is a perfect example of a dog whose time has come to visit the vet.
Q:
What can we do about Lazlo’s breath? He’s a 7-year-old rat terrier that has sewage breath. He’s a hunter and scrounger and picks up almost anything he finds off the ground and tries to eat it. We don’t know how to stop this, but I’m sure it causes a lot of his bad breath. Any suggestions?
A:
It sounds as though you really shouldn’t take a kiss from this guy! Lazlo’s halitosis may be due in part to his culinary habits. But his sewer mouth problem may be a sign of something more serious. I’d say it’s time for a visit to the vet for an oral exam. If his bad breath is a sudden-onset problem, he may have a broken tooth or an infection from a puncture wound somewhere in his mouth. But if his stinky breath has been coming along for a while now, he might just have some heavy tartar on his teeth with ongoing gum disease (gingivitis). Brown spots on the teeth are tartar buildup, and that tartar harbors thousands of stinky, smelly bacteria. Dental tartar with gingivitis is the number one cause of halitosis in dogs and cats.
So it’s time for a dental exam for Lazlo. A good teeth cleaning should freshen up his mouth very quickly, making him kissable once again. Maybe. I wouldn’t want him to kiss you right after he’s found that delectable piece of “whatever” out in the field.
Q:
What does it mean when our little dog, Marty, starts snorting? She looks like she is having a convulsion when she does this, and she does it for about 30 seconds every day or so. She’s a completely normal, mischievous dog all the rest of the time. Our friend thinks she may be having seizures. Is that possible?
A:
Possible, yes. But it’s more likely that she has some irritation on the back of her throat, and her rapid snorting is an attempt to clear out whatever bothers her. The clinical term for this behavior is paroxysmal sneezing (also called reverse sneezing). And if you watch her carefully, you’ll see that she isn’t really sneezing at all. Instead, that snort is made each time she inhales in rapidly repeating movements. This can be a symptom of infection, allergy, or even just some mucus stuck in her throat area. It’s more common in bulldogs, but any dog can exhibit this behavior.
I’d recommend that you have Marty checked by her veterinarian. Take a quick video of her when she’s doing this and bring it to the vet. This way, you can rule out any serious problem. I’ll bet she’s fine, other than a little something in her throat area. Treatment for this condition is simple. We try to wash out the mouth by making the dog drink more water. You can use a squirt bottle and squeeze a little liquid into her mouth throughout the day. Some dogs respond to a squirt of lemon juice which encourages extra salivation. Anything that increases the amount of fluid washing out the mouth helps.
Q:
Do dogs or cats have a funny bone? I bumped mine the other day and it hurt really bad. It made me wonder if dogs and cats have the same problem. I have never seen my dog act painful from a bump.
A:
You know, I’ve never been asked this before! Human funny bone pain comes from a bump on the ulnar nerve near the elbow, and it’s no laughing matter. The nerve isn’t covered or protected by bone, tendon or muscle in the elbow region. So it’s susceptible to an outside bump. And when that happens … ouch!
We know that dogs have the same anatomical features as we humans. They have the same bones, muscles and nerves, including that ulnar nerve. But their anatomy lines up a little differently. So maybe they don’t have that exposed spot on their leg where the ulnar nerve can be hit. Or maybe, they’re a little more stoic than we are. Maybe they just don’t tell us if it hurts. What do our readers think? Do any of you think your dog has ever banged his funny bone and limped or cried out? Tell us your story.
